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Office of Drug Control Policy

ODCP Bimonthly Newsletter March 2021- WV Hospital Discharge Data

3/26/2021

​Data Source: The Uniform Billing (UB) database contains information on all hospital discharges from non-federal hospitals such Veteran Administration (VA) in West Virginia.  For each discharge, the following information is collected: facility name, date of admission and discharge, source of admission, admitting diagnosis, primary and secondary diagnoses, primary and secondary procedure codes, payer, total charges, and patient characteristics (i.e., age, sex, marital status, county of residence, race).  This database is collected and maintained by the West Virginia Health Care Authority Admitting diagnosis, primary and secondary diagnoses were analyzed using the Clinical Classification Software Refined (CCSR) grouping methodology listed previously.

The UB database collects information on inpatient discharges but does not allow for identification of individual patients.  Therefore, while it is possible to count number of hospitalizations, it is not possible to identify the number of people hospitalized with a specific diagnosis.  This limits the ability to calculate readmission rates and identify West Virginians at risk for recurrent hospitalizations.

Discharges were classified as having a diagnosis of interest if they had any diagnosis code listed within the clinical classification software (CCSR) groupings previously listed. Diagnoses of interest included mental health disorders, suicidality, alcohol use disorder, substance use disorders, and overall behavioral health disorders. Payer source is also available in the discharge data to determine the burden of charges for those with specific disorders.  Data can be requested by contacting DHHR’s Office of Management Information Services or the West Virginia Health Care Authority. 

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